


A Family Man

by Haleyb333



Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-10
Updated: 2016-04-30
Packaged: 2018-06-01 10:49:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6515173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haleyb333/pseuds/Haleyb333
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alec and Magnus think that nothing can separate them after all they've been through. But when the people around them seem to have other plans, what will they do to save their relationship?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I started this because I've had this idea for a very long time! I'm not sure how long this story will be, but I'm very excited to be writing it, so let me know your thoughts on it!
> 
> Also, a side note that in this story, Camille was not killed, but the relationship problems that Magnus and Alec went through still apply!

One of the first people to ever make Alec feel as though he could commit murder was Camille. Every time she was anywhere near him, his stomach tightened enough to make him feel nauseous. She'd done everything she could think of to try to keep Magnus and Alec from staying together, she had tried everything possible to break them up. Some days, Alec still couldn't figure out exactly how he and Magnus had pulled through and ended up together, but he tried to keep from thinking of it too often. Alec had found that overthinking it was the worst thing he could do, so he just stayed grateful for the fact that they had pulled through.

But, of course, on the one night that he and Magnus had alone, on the one night they had decided to take for themselves, Camille had showed up and immediately began wrecking things. At first, Alec had thought that she was actually going to ignore them and leave them alone. Alec resisted a groan as she began walking toward their dinner table.

"That's cute, Magnus," she said as she got closer. Her voice sent chills down Alec's spine as he tensed up. Magnus seemed to sense this because he reached across their table to take hold of Alec's hand. Alec also realized that he was doing this to show Camille that she wasn't going to be able to break them apart, so Alec left his hand in Magnus's and simply looked anywhere but where Camille was. "Your darling boyfriend taking you out on a day like today. It's sweet. Trying to cheer you up, is he?"

Alec understood the words that were coming out of Camille's mouth, but he had no idea what she meant my them. He looked up at Magnus in confusion, and he could see the open pain written all over his face. The only problem was that Alec had no idea what Magnus was in pain over. But he didn't have any time to think about it before Magnus responded. "Go to hell, Camille," he said, his voice ice cold. "Or did they kick you out because you were too much for them to handle?"

The way Camille smiled back at Magnus made Alec want to smack it off of her face, but he forced himself to stay silent and remain seated until he figured out exactly what was going on. "I tried it out, and it didn't suit me," she threw back at him. "But you might be able to ask Lena how it is down there right about now." The more they said to each other, the more confused Alec became. Just as he squeezed Magnus's hand for what he thought was support, Magnus shot up from his seat.

"Never say anything like that again," he said, his voice more of a growl than anything else. It was easy to see that whoever Lena was that she had been extremely important to Magnus. The only thing that slightly confused further was that Magnus flicked his eyes nervously toward Alec as though he was afraid of Alec learning too much about what was going on. "If you value your life, you will walk away right this second," Magnus finished in a way that Alec had never heard him.

At that, Camille simply laughed and turned toward Alec. "You may think he's been completely honest with you since you got back together," she said, the smile on her face slowly becoming icier. "But I wouldn't count on that just yet, Alexander." With that, Camille turned away from them and went to her own table, but her words still lingered in the air.

There was nothing that Alec could think to say, so he simply watched as Magnus took his seat once more, his shoulders slumped in a way that tore at Alec's heart. When Magnus stated that he needed to go home, Alec didn't fight with him, he simply asked for their check. Alec never really thought about becoming angry. He knew that Magnus's past was so long that there was a lot he still didn't know; Alec had resigned himself to the fact that he would be learning new things about Magnus for the rest of his life. At the moment, the only thing he was concerned about was making sure that Magnus was alright.  
.  
.  
.  
The thing that began to make Alec angry was the fact that Magnus began to try to avoid the conversation. He'd immediately said that he didn't want to talk about it, which was what had begun their relationship problems the first time around. Sitting down on the couch beside of Magnus, Alec tried to keep his voice as gentle as possible. "Magnus, I understand that you're hurting, and I want to help you. But the only way I'll be able to help you is if you talk to me about this. I'm not going to bed tonight unless we talk about this. I'm sorry to be like this, Magnus, but we need to talk."

To Alec's surprise, Magnus didn't fight back, he just sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. "You're going to be angry, Alexander," he said, his voice so resigned that Alec wished he hadn't been so harsh. Before Alec could respond, Magnus continued, looking down at his feet. "I never told you this, Alec, because it's something that's so painful. I wasn't hiding it; I swear that to you. But every time I tried to tell you, I couldn't seem to get through it."

Instead of responding, Alec just reached over to take Magnus's hand, trying to keep calm until he knew what was going on. "Lena," Magnus said, his voice filled to the brim with emotion. "Alexander, Lena was my world. Lena was my everything. And now she's gone." For a moment, Alec thought that Magnus was talking about a love interest, but then Magnus finished his thought. "Lena was my daughter."

It took several moments for Alec to register what Magnus had just said. He felt like all the air had been sucked out of his lungs, and the only thing he could seem to do was squeeze Magnus's hand. "Magnus," Alec began, trying to find the right words.

"Don't." Magnus cut him off, his voice suddenly becoming much harder than it had been before. "Alec, don't. I don't think I could take you being angry with me right now. Just let me finish before you say anything." Alec remained silent despite himself. "Lena died at eight years old, Alec. She was murdered in cold blood. Alexander, my daughter was murdered by Shadowhunters because she was a warlock. It's been twenty years today since I lost her. That's what Camille was talking about."

When Magnus got up from the couch, Alec could see that he was just scared that Alec was going to be angry. The problem was that Alec was so far from being angry that he couldn't even imagine it. He got up and followed Magnus, knowing that he needed to take care of Magnus if that was at all possible.

The first thing Alec did when he caught up to Magnus was reach for his hand. "Magnus, wait, please. I'm not angry with you. Quite the opposite, really." Magnus stopped walking halfway to their bedroom, and Alec could see how surprised he was that Alec was saying anything of the sort. "You didn't tell me because you were hurt, I understand that, Magnus. It happened so recently. You're hurting, so let me try to help you in any way I can."

Alec had thought that this would have been a good thing to say, but Magnus apparently had other thoughts. "Help me? You think this could ever be fixed? You honestly think that you could ever help me through this?" At first, Alec wanted to run away from the conversation, but he made himself regroup and try to find any way to comfort Magnus.

"Magnus, I'm sorry. I know this can't be fixed. I never meant to imply that it could be." Without thinking about it, Alec reached up to push the hair out of Magnus's eyes. "Please just talk to me." Just as quickly as Magnus had become angry, he switched back to being open with Alec, and Alec had to remind himself that Magnus was brokenhearted at the moment.

"I want to show you something," he said, taking hold of Alec's hand and leading him back toward the bedroom. Once there, he motioned for Alec to sit on the bed while he walked over to a bookshelf and pulled out a photo album. When he came to sit beside of Alec, he reached to open the album with hands that were shaking slightly, and Alec couldn't find anything to do to help him.

He turned to a page and handed the album to Alec. "That's her," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. Alec looked down at the picture to see Magnus holding Lena. Lena had long black hair that had been done in braids. Her huge brown eyes were looking up at Magnus with such love that it almost pained Alec to look it. The smile on her face was large enough for Alec to see that she had loved her father with all her heart.

"Her warlock's mark was her ears," Magnus said, his eyes on the picture. "They were pointed, so she always wanted me to do her hair in braids so she could hide them easily." Magnus paused and took a deep breath. "She was always so happy, Alexander. Nothing ever got her down. She could make me smile no matter what was going on. And then she was taken from me."

This time, it was Alec's turn to take a deep breath. "She was beautiful, Magnus," was all that Alec had the courage to say. He wanted to say so many more things, he wanted to find the prefect thing to tell Magnus, but everything seemed to leave him all at once.

"I rescued her from her mundane parents," Magnus said, his voice sounding very far away. "They didn't want her and they were going to do anything they could to get rid of her. It was the happiest day of my life." The words still evaded Alec, and it seemed like the harder he tried, the less he could think of to say. "I want to go to bed now, Alec," Magnus said suddenly, getting up from the bed. Alec couldn't find it in himself to argue, so he simply nodded.

When Magnus climbed in bed beside of him, Alec immediately wrapped his arms around Magnus, who automatically leaned in to him as though his life depended on it. It was then that Alec realized that he was going to do anything he could to help Magnus heal, no matter how long it would take him to figure out exactly what he needed to do.


	2. Chapter 2

Alec wasn't entirely concerned about the fact that he had lost Jace, Isabelle, Simon, and Clary on their mission. He figured that Jace and Isabelle could handle enough of whatever might come their way to keep Clary and Simon safe, and he knew that he could take care of himself. Alec was much more concerned about Magnus at the moment. He hadn't wanted to leave Magnus; over the past couple of days, Magnus had seemed more depressed than Alec had ever seen him. Alec had insisted on staying with him instead of going on the mission, but Magnus had protested so much that Alec had feared an argument would occur if he'd pushed any harder.

For the past two days, Alec had done everything possible to take care of Magnus without actually showing that he was taking care of him. It was a fine line that Alec thought he was walking pretty well, but the more Magnus stayed quiet and reserved, the more worried he made Alec. Everything that was going on was completely foreign to Alec, and the only thing that Alec could hope for was to at least show Magnus that he was there for him.

Before Alec could think any more about what he might be able to do to help Magnus, he stopped short at a noise that came from directly behind him. Had he not been a Shadowhunter, he most likely would never have noticed that anything at all was wrong. He slowly turned around to see his worst nightmare coming true.

Camille was standing behind him, her icy smile as present as ever. The part that terrified Alec wasn't Camille, it was the fact that Asmodeus was standing beside of her. Alec could immediately feel his heartrate increase, but he couldn't find any words at all. "Go ahead, Camille," Asmodeus said, his voice so full of eagerness that it made Alec nauseous. "Watching you take him out will be much more amusing."

Alec immediately began fighting for his life, working on autopilot and attempting to not think about what they could have possibly done to Magnus. The only problem was that Camille was far too old and powerful for him to beat on his own, and he slowly felt himself losing ground. When Camille took his bow and snapped it, however, he suddenly found a new surge of strength that came with the anger. But even that wasn't enough to keep her from winning out.  
.  
.  
.  
When Alec woke up, he was startled to see a pair of brown eyes looking down on him. He felt a hand on his forehead, and he immediately became concerned when he thought that the black hair he saw might have been Camille's. Before he could do anything, however, the person hovering over him spoke. "Please stay still, I'm trying to help you," a small voice said. "I know you're Alec," she said after a short pause.

That's when Alec actually realized who he was talking to, and the shock was almost enough to silence him. Almost. "You're Lena, aren't you?" he asked, hearing the physical pain in his voice. He moved to sit up, and this time, Lena didn't protest. Looking around, Alec could see that they were in a room without any windows, a room with only one door, and Alec wasn't naïve enough to think that the door was unlocked.

Lena simply nodded, looking up at Alec with huge eyes, and he could easily see just how scared she was. "Asmodeus brought me back," she said, her voice full of much more contempt than Alec could have thought possible. "He says he wants something from my Papa and we are going to help him get it." It was then that Alec noticed that Lena was shaking with fear, so he tried his hardest to pretend as though everything was going to be fine.

"He hasn't done anything to you, has he, Lena? Other than bringing you here, I mean." Alec almost verbally sighed in relief when Lena shook her head to tell him no, but he refrained from doing so. He wanted to pick her up and hug her, but he refrained from doing that as well. Considering the fact that Alec was scared out of his mind, he knew Lena had to be absolutely terrified.

"He and Camille just brought you in here and told me that they had a plan," she said, her voice only growing tighter with every word she spoke. "I'm just really scared, Alec. I want to go back to my Papa." At that, Alec couldn't seem to take it any longer, so he gave in to everything he was wanting to do.

Alec motioned for Lena to come over to him. "It's alright to be scared, Lena, but I'm going to take care of you. Come here and sit with me, and we'll just talk until we figure out what we should do." To his surprise, Lena immediately came to sit in his lap, obviously so scared that the only thing she wanted at the moment was for anyone she even remotely trusted to comfort her.

For several moments, Lena remained silent, looking around the room as though she expected anything to happen to them at any time. Before Alec could come up with anything to say, Lena looked back up at him. "Will you tell me about your family, Alec?" she asked. Alec must have looked as confused as he felt because she continued. "Asmodeus brought me back a few days ago and I used my magic to listen to his conversations, so I know a lot about you. But not enough."

When she had finished, Alec realized that she was curious about everything that was going on, but he also could see that she wanted a distraction. Instead of protesting, he simply talked to her about his siblings, about Simon and Clary as well, and he quickly found her smiling and asking him questions. After talking about his family for a few minutes, Alec finally got the courage to ask her a question of his own. "Since you know about my family, tell me about what you and your Papa used to do."

The way that Lena's smile lit up everything inside of Alec almost terrified him. "Papa used to try to play dress up with me," she said, her smile widening at the memories that were obviously going through her mind. "But he wasn't very good at being a princess."

Alec chuckled at the thought, surprising himself seeing as the situation called for everything other than laughter. "Well, you know how I told you about my sister, Isabelle, and our friend, Clary? I know for a fact that when we get back they will love to play with you, and they make wonderful princesses." Lena looked up at him with a sparkle in her eye that reminded Alec far too much of Magnus.

"Do you really think we're going to get back to them, Alec?" she asked. It sounded like she was trying to keep from showing how scared she was, so Alec didn't take the time to acknowledge it. He simply tried to make sure he sounded convincing when he responded to her.

"Of course we are, Lena. I am going to make sure of it. I'm going to get you back to your Papa. He needs his princess back," Alec said, trying to keep from thinking of the alternative. He knew that there could never be any alternative. As soon as he thought that there was a possibility of them not getting back to Magnus, that made it that much easier for Asmodeus to do what he wanted with them.

Before Lena could say anything else, the door burst open, and Alec tightened his arms around her when she jumped. "Before we can get to that," Asmodeus immediately began. "I think we may need to give Papa some incentive." Alec didn't like the way he could hear Asmodeus's smile in his voice. He quickly sat Lena on the ground and got to his feet, not entirely sure of what he was actually going to do. "I've got something pretty special in store for our little princess," Asmodeus finished.

At that, Alec knew exactly what he was doing. "No. You don't," he said, his voice much harder than he thought it would have been. "You do whatever you want to me, but do not touch her." The last thing Alec heard was Asmodeus's laugh before he was consumed by a pain that pushed him toward the floor.  
.  
.  
.  
"You found what?" Magnus could tell that his voice was a few octaves higher than normal, but he didn't particularly care. "You're telling me that you found Alec's bow broken in half and instead of immediately calling me, you decided that you would continue to just idly look for him?"

For several moments, Jace simply looked back at Magnus as though he was insane. "He's untrackable right now, Magnus. That was the first thing we tried, and that was exactly what you would have done. He's my parabatai, of course I want to find him, of course I tried everything I could to find him before coming here."

Magnus sat down on the couch, trying to keep from satisfying himself by strangling Jace. "We'll find him, Magnus," Isabelle said, her voice much softer than Jace's had been. "I'm sure he's fine." Magnus would have listened to what Isabelle was saying if Jace hadn't fallen to the ground as soon as she had said it.

It was easy to see that the pain Jace was feeling wasn't his own, that it was coming from his parabatai bond. "It's Alec," Jace said, even though it was terribly unnecessary for him to do so. "Find him," was the last thing Jace said before he passed out from the pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know your thoughts! This is probably going to end up being a very long story line, but just bear with the angst because I've got a lot in store for this! (Plus I just kind of love angst....)


	3. Chapter 3

The last thing Magnus wanted to think about was the fact that his father somehow had the two people he had ever cared about most in the world. His father had used hologram-type projections to show him exactly what was going on, and Magnus couldn't exactly figure out what the worst part of it had been. There had been Alec's screams, that was certain. But the thing that really tore at Magnus's heart was the way that Lena had been trying to help him, the way that she had been so terrified and so upset for someone she had only just met. It was obvious to Magnus that she and Alec had somehow bonded before Asmodeus had begun torturing Alec, and now she was trying everything she could think of to take care of him.

Seeing the fear on his daughter's face was essentially Magnus's worse nightmare. Coupled with all of Alec's pain, it was hardly something that Magnus could take. He had thought he was going to explode, and then Asmodeus had spelled out exactly what he wanted, and Magnus knew he was going to break down sooner or later.

"I want your powers, son," he's said, an eerie smile creeping across his face. "It's as simple as that. Your immortality will stay intact, but I need your powers for, well, for personal uses." At the time, Magnus hadn't had anything to say to that. His father knew better than anyone that if Magnus's only option was to give up his powers or lose both Alec and Lena forever that it would never even be a contest.

Sure, Magnus knew that Alec would automatically protest. But at the moment, Magnus couldn't stop to think about what Alec might want to happen with his life. This entire situation wasn't just about Alec's life anymore. It was about Lena's as well, and Magnus knew that Alec would never protest over Lena's life. So Magnus knew there was only one thing he could do.

As soon as he'd told the others exactly what his father wanted in return for Alec and Lena, an argument had ensued with Isabelle and Clary on one side and Jace and Simon on the other. Magnus decided that he wasn't going to take the time to try to figure out exactly how those sides had been formed, so he simply told them he was going to the bathroom and then portaled out of the apartment. He knew it was borderline wrong, but he didn't have the time to argue over what kind of plan they needed to make. And it wasn't up to any of them to make this decision either.

Magnus knew that they should have gotten some say in their brother's life, but at the moment, he was unable to stop and take the time to allow them to work out their feelings on the matter. He had failed to show them that his father had given him an address to go to. The only thing he could think about was getting to Alec and Lena and somehow saving them both; he didn't care how he had to go about doing so. If saving them meant giving up his powers, that was exactly what he was going to do.  
.  
.  
.  
When Alec woke up, the first thing he became aware of was a quiet sort of crying, and it didn't take him long to realize that the crying was coming from Lena. When Alec tried to sit up and go to her, however, he was immediately forced back down by the excruciating pain he felt practically everywhere. "No, Alec," he heard Lena say as she frantically ran toward him. "Don't try to get up, you're still hurt." He could hear the tears in her voice and he knew that what had been done to him had been much worse than he could imagine.

Thankfully, Alec barely remembered most of it, having passed out from the pain just a couple of minutes into it. But he knew he'd likely still been writhing in pain while unconscious. And he knew that that was exactly what Lena had had to endure. "He didn't hurt you, did he?" Alec all but gasped, apparently much weaker than he had first thought he was. He sighed in relief when Lena shook her head to tell him no.

For several moments, Alec simply remained on the floor, closing his eyes and trying his hardest to will the pain away. If it weren't for the pain he still felt, Alec would have almost allowed himself to believe that everything Asmodeus had done to him had been a dream. "Are you still in pain?" Lena asked, her voice soft with a worry that slightly surprised Alec.

At that, Alec forced himself to sit up, forced himself to move without showing any of the pain that immediately began shooting through his body. "No, Lena," he lied as smoothly as possible. "I'm absolutely fine now." Alec idly wondered whether or not Magnus had ever lied to Lena to keep her out of pain, but before he could think about it too much, the door burst open once more. As soon as it did so, Alec found Lena had jumped into his arms, automatically terrified of whoever might be on the other side.

Alec tightened his arms around her as Asmodeus strode through the door, leaving it standing wide open. On a normal day, Alec would have taken his chances and made a break for the open door, but Asmodeus seemed to understand that Alec wasn't strong enough to even make it halfway there before being intercepted. "Let's get right to business," Asmodeus said in a lazy tone that in no way matched his intentions. "I think it's the little princess's turn, don't you?" The way Lena began shaking with fear filled Alec with rage.

"No," he said, suddenly finding a much stronger voice than the one he had had just seconds earlier. "Do whatever you want to me, just do not touch her." At that, Lena began grabbing at Alec's shirt in a way that told him that she didn't want to watch him go through the torture again.

"Alec, please don't," she began, her voice as soft and pleading as her eyes were. "I don't want him to hurt you anymore." The way she wanted to protect him made Alec fleetingly think of what it might be like to get her back, what it might be like for him to become a part of the family she and Magnus had already established. Alec bitterly pushed the thought out of his mind, knowing that if Asmodeus had his way that he would never make it out alive. The best he could hope for was to get Lena back to Magnus.

As steadily as possible, Alec fought through his pain and moved to set Lena on the ground and to stand up. Before Alec could say anything else to Asmodeus, he was caught completely by surprise when Magnus burst through the door. "Don't hurt either of them," Magnus said as soon as he entered the room. "You can have exactly what you want, just let them both go." Alec thought of asking Magnus exactly what Asmodeus wanted, he even opened his mouth to begin speaking, but just as he did so, he felt his knees give way once more as a new-found darkness washed over him.  
.  
.  
.  
Magnus was fairly certain that nothing he'd ever experienced had ever felt as good as having his daughter back in his arms currently felt. Sure, he was a little weak from suddenly being powerless. Sure, he was a little apprehensive about what Alec might say to that little fact. Sure, he was entirely sick with worry that Alec might actually not be okay. But the one thing Magnus did know was that, no matter what happened, no matter how broken things became, he was going to be just fine as long as he had Lena.

"Who braided your hair, Lena?" he asked, reaching for a blanket so that he could wrap her up the way he used to do when she was scared. She hadn't stopped shaking since they had finally gotten home, and he knew she would likely shake all night. She looked up at him with a surprising mixture of lingering fear and adoration, and Magnus was only left to wonder how that had come about.

"Alec braided it, Papa," she said, and suddenly the adoration he saw made sense. "He was trying to help me calm down, and he asked to braid my hair. I think he might have been trying to calm himself down a bit, too," she finished, a weak smile spreading across her face.

Magnus bent over slightly to kiss the top of her head, far too consumed with worry over Alec to even begin to think about what Alec had actually done for his daughter. "I really like him, Papa," Lena continued, oblivious to what was going on inside of Magnus's head. "He took care of me just the way you would have taken care of me." At that, Magnus had to close his eyes to keep the emotions from flowing a bit too strong. "Is he going to be okay?"

For several more seconds, Magnus kept his eyes closed, trying his hardest to convince himself that Alec was going to be fine. The only problem was that he couldn't convince himself of that. Catarina had come over to help take care of Alec, but the fact that she had been with Alec for over an hour told Magnus that things were not looking good for their situation. When Magnus didn't reply right away, Lena asked another question. "If he is okay, is he going to be a part of our family?"

Magnus forced himself to take several deep breaths, knowing that his emotions were close to getting the better of him. In the end, he could only find one thing to say to his daughter. The only problem was that even he didn't know which of her questions he was answering. "I genuinely hope so, Lena."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know your thoughts!   
> My writing is going to be a bit slower until this weekend, but I'm trying to catch up, so just let me know how you're liking it so far!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit shorter than my chapters normally are, but just bear with me while I get the story where I want it to be! Let me know your thoughts!

The next few days had gone by in a whirlwind for Magnus. He was terribly surprised to watch as Lena threw herself into Alec's arms the moment she saw that Alec was on his feet. Somehow, the way Alec wrapped his arms around Lena as though he never wanted to let go surprised Magnus even more. He had no idea how Lena and Alec had seemed to connect so quickly, but it wasn't something he planned on sitting around questioning.

The morning after Alec was strong enough to so much as get up and walk around, Magnus walked into their bedroom to find Alec packing. "Alexander?" he asked, knowing his voice betrayed every ounce of his surprise. "What are you doing? What's going on? Did I miss something? Because if I did, please explain it to me."

Alec immediately turned around to flash Magnus a quick smile, which only confused Magnus even more. "You didn't miss anything, Magnus," he began, moving away from the bed and closer to Magnus. "I just think it would be better if I moved out." When Magnus didn't respond at all, Alec continued attempting to explain. "You've got a daughter now. I don't want to make Lena uncomfortable, Magnus. I just think we need to take a few steps back and slow down a bit."

Magnus resisted the urge to protest because, deep down, he knew that Alec was right. He knew that Alec simply wanted to do what he felt was right for Lena, and he didn't want to admit that what Alec was saying was right. The only thing Magnus could find the strength to do was to step forward and wrap his arms around Alec, wishing that Alec wasn't so loving and kind.  
.  
.  
.  
Over the next few months, Magnus sat back and watched Alec and Lena become closer than he had ever imagined they could become. He was often left to wonder how they had become so close so quickly, but he tried to keep from overthinking it too much. He wanted to talk to Lena about it, but he had no idea how to go about it all. So he decided to just wait things out. Before Magnus could wait very long, however, Lena came to him.

"Papa, I have a question," she said, climbing up onto the couch and then scooting over to sit on Magnus's lap. Alec was currently at the Institute, so Magnus was automatically curious about what Lena might want to talk about while he was gone. The only problem was that Lena's question surprised Magnus more than he would have thought possible. "When can I start calling Alec 'Daddy?'"

For several moments, Magnus simply sat and stared down at his daughter, completely at a loss for words. He knew what he should have said, he knew what he needed to say, but he couldn't seem to figure out exactly how to say those things. "I'm sorry, Papa," Lena said quickly when Magnus didn't respond immediately.

"It was a stupid question. Just forget about it." When Lena began to move away from him, Magnus tightened his arms around her. The only thing he could seem to do at first was lean down a kiss her on top of her head. He'd always been horrible with conversations like this, and he didn't want to mess this particular one up.

"It's not a stupid question, Lena," he said, trying to think through everything before he spoke. "Alec loves you, and if you want him to be a part of our family, then you should just ask him." Lena turned then to look back up at Magnus, a mixture of love and fear in her eyes. "And before you ask me, Lena, of course I want him to be part of our family. But right now, this is completely up to you."

As Magnus spoke, a smile slowly began to grow on her face. Before she could say anything, however, the door began to open and Alec walked through. As soon as Alec was through the door, as soon as Alec saw the two of them, he immediately began smiling. "What are you two talking about?" he asked, coming to sit beside of them.

When Lena didn't say anything at all, Magnus gave her a nudge. "I wanted to ask you a question," she said, her voice terribly weak. Magnus forced himself to hide his smile, suddenly endeared by Lena's worry at asking Alec.

"You know you can ask me anything," Alec said, his voice only slightly betraying his apprehension over what she wanted to say. Several movements passed in which Lena simply stared at Alec, and Magnus could see that Alec was becoming more and more worried. Before Magnus could do anything, Lena had jumped off of his lap and all but sprinted to her bedroom.

Magnus didn't take the time to explain anything to Alec at the moment, he simply got up and followed Lena, knowing he had to do something before things got way too out of hand. "Alec would never want a warlock as a child," Lena said as soon as Magnus entered her room. "He's a Shadowhunter," she finished, as though this explained everything.

Instead of immediately trying to fix how Lena was feeling, Magnus simply walked over to take her in his arms once more. "Lena, Alec loves you. You know that better than anyone." When silent tears began streaming down Lena's face, Magnus realized that things were much more serious than he had first thought.  
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Alec had no idea what was going on, but he knew he had to stay up and find out from Magnus exactly what it was, no matter how tired he was. He was worried that he'd done something wrong. Lena had never acted that way with him before, and he was terribly afraid that he'd mess everything up.

When Magnus walked back into the room, Alec began speaking much too quickly. "Magnus, what's wrong? Did I do something? If I did, please let me fix it." Alec only stopped speaking when Magnus held up a hand to get him to do so. Sitting back down on the couch beside of him, Magnus sighed and closed his eyes for a few seconds as though he was trying to steady himself.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Alexander," he began, his voice soft. "She's just scared." Alec didn't have to respond to ask him what Lena was afraid of to get Magnus to continue his explanation. "She wanted to ask you if she could call you 'Daddy,' but she's so worried that you'll tell her no."

For a moment, Alec was so struck by what Magnus had said that he didn't have any idea of what he might be able to say. In the end, the only thing he could come up with was, "Why would she think that?" and even he could hear the uncertainty in his voice.

"You're a Shadowhunter," Magnus said, leaving it at that and knowing that he didn't need to say anything more. The weight of what Magnus was implying hit Alec harder than he might have thought it could. "Alec, I'm so sorry," was all that Magnus could find to say, and Alec almost wished that he hadn't said anything else at all.

Alec didn't want to become angry; he knew it wasn't Magnus's fault that this was happening, but his frustration bubbled to the surface nonetheless. He simply got up from the couch. "Just forget about it, Magnus," he said, refusing to turn around as he walked toward the door.

Alec hadn't wanted to make a plan, but as he lay in bed that night, he realized that a plan was exactly what he needed. The only problem was that Alec knew exactly what he needed to do. What he needed to do for Lena, for Magnus even, was the one thing that made him more nervous than anything he had ever faced before.


	5. Chapter 5

Alec had no idea why he was so nervous. He'd fought demons, he'd been to hell and back. He'd literally done things that his younger self had had nightmares about. And yet here he was, nervous over a simple conversation. But for some reason, he'd come to realize that anything concerning his new family made him so undeniably nervous that he could hardly stand it. In the end, Alec had just assumed that this was what it felt like to actually have a family he was completely and totally responsible for now.

The problem was that he had no idea of what he was really doing. Alec knew what he had to do, that was certain. But he was going by feeling and instinct. Not to mention the fact that he had no idea how to actually go about what he knew he needed to do.

He was currently curled up in his and Magnus's room, trying, and failing, to rehearse the little speech he had prepared for when Magnus and Lena got home. He knew it was useless, he knew he would just end up going off script and most likely failing to make any sense at all, but he figured that he could try anyway.

Eventually, Alec realized that he'd entirely abandoned his attempt to practice what he wanted to say, and he registered the fact that he had gotten out an old photo album. He had no idea when he had gotten up to get the album, but he knew now that looking at the pictures of Max was the last thing he needed to do in order to keep himself calm. Lately, he'd become entirely too sentimental to the point that Magnus was beginning to notice it as well. The fact that he had reached for the album made it that much more apparent to Alec that he was beginning to reach for absolutely any remnants of Max that he could find.

Just as he began to close the album, Alec heard the front door open, and he knew it was time to try to calm his nerves enough to do what he needed to do. Walking into the living room, he wasn't at all surprised to see that Lena was in Magnus's arms, smiling from ear to ear. What he was surprised to realize was that just the sight of Lena's smile automatically relaxed him. He looked up to see that Magnus was staring at him, most likely reading the look on his face and realizing that Alec was thinking about Lena.

As Magnus began to open his mouth to say something, Alec spoke up to keep him from doing so, knowing that if he didn't dive into what he wanted to say that he would back out of it. "I want to talk to you two about something very important," he said, motioning for Magnus to take a seat. "I've been thinking about this all day, and I need to get it out before I explode."

Magnus gave him a questioning look, but simply sat down on the couch, placing Lena on his lap. Alec had to resist the urge to laugh at the fact that Lena and Magnus had almost identical looks of confusion on their faces. "I have a question to ask you," he said, sitting down across from them and looking straight at Lena.

Alec forced himself to keep from looking at Magnus, knowing by the way Magnus's grip on Lena changed that he knew exactly where Alec was going with this. Alec knew that if he looked at Magnus, his will would break and that he would not be able to continue. Lena nodded enthusiastically, only causing Alec's heart to skip a couple of beats.

"I was wondering," Alec said, taking a deep breath to steady himself. "If you would like to start calling me 'Daddy.'" It was only then that Alec allowed himself to look at Magnus. It was then that Alec realized that nothing in the world could have made him happier at the moment than the smiles that were on Magnus and Lena's faces. Lena was looking up at him with awe, as though he had just made her biggest dream come true, and the thought of that almost broke his heart.

Lena quickly looked up at Magnus, obviously wanting to check and see whether or not he was okay with this. When Lena looked back at Alec, however, he was startled to see that her smile had diminished far more than he would have thought it could have. "You don't actually want that," she said, her tone so utterly final that it tore at Alec's heart.

Magnus looked down at her in confusion, obviously just as startled as Alec. "No Shadowhunter wants a warlock as a child. That's just how it is," she finished explaining. When Alec couldn't figure out what to say, Lena turned into Magnus, burying her face in his chest. The only thing that Magnus could seem to do was wrap his arms tighter around her, and it was then that Alec began working on auto pilot. He moved over to sit beside of them.

"Lena," he said, his voice much softer than he wanted it to be. "I know that this is scary. It scares me, too. But to think that I would ever think any less of you or your dad because you are warlocks hurts me. I love you both so much, and I would fight to the ends of the earth for either of you. But what's more, I would never ask you for something I didn't want. I would never lie to you about that, Lena. This is something I want with all my heart. But if you don't want it, then that's okay. I'm a patient man; I can wait until you're ready."

While Alec was speaking, Lena slowly began to turn back toward him and away from Magnus. The look on her face told Alec that he'd said the right things, but more than anything else, he just wanted to see the smile on her face again. When she began to speak, however, she surprised Alec more than he had ever imagined she could. "I love you, too, Daddy," was all she said, but it was all Alec needed to hear for his heart to both shatter and be lifted up at once.

Lifting Lena out of Magnus's arms, Alec knew without a doubt that he had never been so ecstatically happy. When Magnus reached over to wrap his arms around the both of them, Alec leaned in, savoring the feeling, but unable to think about the fact that the whole in his heart that Max had left was beginning to feel ever so slightly smaller. He knew it would never heal completely, and he didn't want it to. But he knew something was happening, so he smiled into Lena's hair, knowing that it was all due to his new family.  
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"Wait, let me get this straight," Lena said, the smile on her face growing with every second. "You're going to keep him? I'm going to be a big sister?" The joy in her voice was so apparent that it was all Alec could do to contain his own joy. All he could do was nod, knowing that if he looked at Magnus he would see their joy mirrored on his face as well.

When they'd visited the Academy, they had never imagined that they would end up with another child in their arms. The moment they had looked at each other and Alec had realized that Magnus was thinking exactly what he was thinking had likely been the scariest part of the day. Suddenly, they had two children, and there was no turning back.

"Can I hold him?" was Lena's next question, and Alec let Magnus take care of that one. The only thing Alec could do was sit and smile as Magnus went to pick Max up out of his crib and bring him to Lena. Looking back and forth between them, Alec's heart began to break once more, his emotions becoming so muddled that he couldn't even begin to make sense of them at all.

When Magnus sat down and allowed Lena to climb into his lap and hold Max, Alec had to get up and walk around a bit. He knew that if he turned around, he would see Magnus giving him a look of confusion, but he couldn't allow himself to do that until his mind began to clear. He had no idea how someone could feel so happy and so broken all at once, but what he did know was that looking at his son Max and thinking about his brother Max was far too painful for him to do for very long.

Alec turned around when he heard Lena begin to talk to her brother. "You're going to be my little blueberry," she said, the smile on her face all too evident in her voice. "And I'm going to take care of you because that's what big sisters do. And trust me, Max, you're going to love this family just as much as I do."

It was then that Alec allowed himself to meet Magnus's eye, only to see that Magnus's expression mirrored how he was feeling. Somehow, they'd both lost so much, and yet here they were, happier than they had ever imagined they could be. Alec walked back over to sit beside of them once again, wrapping his arms around all three of them. "My little blueberry, my little princess, and my high warlock," he said, his voice soft with content. "What more could I ever need?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is going to be more to this story, I just don't exactly know how much there will be yet!
> 
> But let me know your thoughts on it!

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know how many chapters this will have, but I just put 8 becasue I know it will be sort of long so just bear with me on that one!
> 
> Let me know what you thought!


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